


Heart and Soul

by theinksplotch



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bilingual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Character Turned Into a Ghost, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), I'm Bad At Tagging, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Adoptive Siblings, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-21 19:37:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14921595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theinksplotch/pseuds/theinksplotch
Summary: Keith is gay, Lance is a ghost. Could it be anymore obvious?





	1. Chapter 1

 It was cold this morning.

Cold mornings in New York used to be Keith's favorite. When he was little, he would wake Shiro up extra early and they would bundle up in layers upon layers and watch the city wake up together. Those were some of his best memories, him and his brother sitting side by side in front of their open bedroom window sipping microwave hot coacoa, noses and cheeks pink from the cold weather outside.

Now, however, was an entirely different story.

Waking up extra early to walk to the subway, trying not to freeze his ass off in the meantime. Packing himself into a subway car with about a hundred other cranky high schoolers and New Yorkers. All this to go to Garrison Academy, an exclusive STEM school that Keith hadn't even wanted to go to in the first place. What's not to love? This is where Keith sat now, squished in between an old lady who smelled like weed and a little kid who wouldn't stop staring at him, headphones in his ears but no music playing - his excuse to ignore anybody that tried to talk to him. Keith pulled his hat and scarf off and stuffed them in his backpack, partly because of the overwhelming body heat in the subway and partly because the unwavering gaze of the child next to him was making him sweat. God, it was too early for this.

"Hey," the little boy said. Keith turned to look out the window, nodding his head to the nonexistent beat. Pretending. Keith was always pretending to do things. He pretended to be asleep when Shiro came home from patrol at 1 in the morning and not up and worrying if his brother was safe. He pretended he didn't notice whenever Hunk and Pidge waved him over to sit with them at lunch because he would much rather be alone.

So when the subway slowed to a stop and some guy hopped on singing Beyonce at the top of his lungs, Keith did what any decent New Yorker would do, and pretended he wasn't there. The old lady got up and left, leaving Keith to scoot over and put some space in between him and the little boy.

"Who runs the world? Girls! Who runs the world? Come on! Sing it with me!"

Silence.

"Jeez, tough crowd," the stranger muttered. Suddenly, he plopped himself down in the empty seat between Keith and the little boy.

"Hey there." Keith ignored him. "You're pretty cute," the stranger said in his ear. Keith barely kept himself from rolling his eyes. Could he just, for once, make it to school without being ogled by a seven year old and cornered by a crazed Beyonce fan (yes, its happened more than once.)? Was that so fucking hard to accomplish?

"I've never actually seen anybody pull off a mullet before." Suddenly, cold fingers grazed his neck and tangled themselves in his hair. The raven haired boy bristled. That's fucking _it._

Keith turned to look at the person. "Dude, what the fuck is your pro..." the words died in his throat because _holy shit_ he was face to face with the most attractive boy he'd ever laid eyes on. He was...well, beautiful, creamy caramel colored skin dusted with freckles and shiny eyes that looked like the sky on a nice day. His dark brown hair stuck up in every which way, like he'd just come from a walk on the beach. His lips were quirked up in a teasing smile...but there was something weird about his face that Keith couldn't quite put his finger on. He didn't fit the picture of this cold NYC morning, cold and gray. Everything about him seemed to take on a golden hue, or maybe that was just Keith being gay. The beautiful boy's eyes widened almost comically. "You...you can see me?"

"Um...yes?" Keith said. He suddenly remembered that this boy just about violated him. He frowned, forcing himself to look away. "And I can hear you, too, creep."

The boy blushed. "Y-yeah, sorry bout that," he said sheepishly.

"Wait! B-but. Nobody can see me. Nobody alive, anyway." He pouted, perfect lips jutting out. Keith realized he was staring and looked away, blushing. The boy suddenly leaned in, peering at Keith through sky blue irises. "Wait? Are you dead, too?" Keith blinked. Attractive or not, this guy was an absolute fucking wing nut. "What are you talking about? Listen, just leave me alone, alright?"

"Hey mister, who are you talking to?" the little boy Keith had nearly forgotten about asked. The Korean boy frowned. "I..." He looked back and forth between the child and the guy sitting between them. How...did he not see him? He was right there. "I told you," the stranger said. "Nobody can see me." As an example, he got up and strarted to twirk directly in front of the little boy's mother, who didn't so much as bat an eyelash. Keith blushed, and then frowned. This has to be some kind of prank. Where were the cameras? The tall boy started to sing Beyonce again, a loud obnoxious version of Single Ladies this time. "Stop that," Keith said. This, however, did attract the attention of the little boy's mother. She glared at Keith, pulling her son close to her side. Great. Now _he_ was the crazy person.

"So you believe me now, yeah?" The strange boy asked, sitting down next to Keith again. He was wearing a thin green jacket over a T-shirt and jeans, not exactly fit for NYC in the winter. Yet he showed no sign of discomfort. Keith ignored him, rubbing his eyes with his hands. This was not actually fucking happening. It was just early, and he hadn't had any coffee yet.

"Hey, man! Don't ignore me! Come on! I haven't talked to another human being in months!"

Yeah, that's right, Keith thought numbly, already warming up to the idea. He was just tired, that was all. 'The ghost of Christmas sass' would be gone by the time first period rolled around, a figment of his tired, gay imagination.

"Come on, Mullet! I need your help. I've got a week left before - " The subway halted to a stop, Keith's stop. The raven haired boy jumped up, hoping to loose himself in the crowd of high schoolers before his new 'bus buddy' caught up to him


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith hasn't watched Coco

 

Out of all his classes, Keith probably hated his Trig class the most. It was his last period before school let out, and _of course_ it had to be the most soul sucking one on his schedule. One of the few things Keith didn't hate about Garrison was the varaity of classes one could have. You could take Piloting 101 (Garrison also happened to provide military based classes on top of their STEM options) or Advanced Engineering...unfortunately, you had to take the basics too, math and english and stuff. And of course, with Keith's luck, he was stuck with the most boring teacher in all of Garrison. He was pretty sure listening to Mr. Hackle drone on and on about theorems and shapes for 45 minutes a day was slowly draining his soul out of his body through his ear drums. Keith had decided a long time ago that zoning him out was the best plan of action, although there wasn't much else to do. Mr. Hackle had cataracts in both of his eyes, yet he still managed to spot a cellphone out from a mile away, so that was out of the question. Keith usually just spent the whole period staring blankly out of the window. He sat at the very back of the class in the seat closest to the door. The only view he was getting were people's heads as they walked by the tiny window in the middle of the door.

That happened to be exactly what he was doing when be saw _him._ A head of spiky brown hair passed by the window, turning Keith's blood cold.

The guy from the subway. _At his school._

"I need to use the bathroom," he blurted out, springing up out of his seat. He rushed out of the classroom before he could hear Mr. Hackle's response.

What the fuck? That weirdo _followed_ Keith here? That's _it,_  he was gonna go give him a peice of his mind.

He had just turned the corner when suddenly, Keith found himself being yanked into the bathroom and pinned against the wall, face to face with none other that the crazy person from the subway.

"W-what the fuck? Why are you following - mrrmph!"

"Shh," the boy said, putting a hand over Keith's mouth. "I'm reeeally sorry to have to do this but you really need to listen to me, okay?"

He pushed the guy off of him. "No, what I _need_ to do is go back to class. And you need to leave me alone before...before..."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Before what? You gonna beat me up, Mullet?"

Keith blushed, averting his eyes. Stupid boy...stupid smirky face. "I'm going back to class," he announced. "And don't you fucking follow me."

"No! Wait, I'm sorry," the boy grabbed the hood of Keith's sweater and pulled him back just as he was walking away. "Look...I'm sorry, okay? Lets just start over, yeah? Im Lance," he stuck his hand out for Keith to shake. He didn't, preferring to stare at the boy, unamused. Lance pulled it back, laughing nervously. "Geez, tough crowd heh heh." He rubbed a hand over his face, and Keith suddenly noticed how tired he looked, the gray undertone hiding underneath the golden hue. "It's just...I have week left and...and your the only person who can help me. I'm fucking dead, okay? I don't even...I don't even know who I am." He looked so desperate, so sad. Keith's eyes widened. How could he sound so sincere about this? This couldn't actually be happening, right? _Right?_

"A week? A week until what?" _Don't indulge him!_

The boy bit his lip, and Keith tried not to let his gaze linger too long on his mouth (ugh, why was he like this?).

"I'm not sure exactly...but I've got a feeling its gonna be like what happened to Chicharon in Coco, ya know?"

He frowned at Lance's words. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Lance went all bug-eyed on him. "You never watched Coco? The Disney movie?"

Keith stared at him blankly.

The boy groaned dramatically. " _Dios mio_! So you're telling me you can see dead people but ya can't go _see_ a movie once in a while?!"

Keith's eye twitched. "Do you want my help or not?"

The boy beamed. "So you're saying you believe me?"

Keith opened his mouth, then closed it again.  _Did he_? It was just so...bizzare. Shit like this didn't happen in real life, only in like, that one movie with Robert Downey Jr and _Ghostbusters._ This guy was just another wackjob native to the New York City subway system. He knew all this, but why did some tiny part of him believe everything Lance was saying?

The school bell rang. Keith startled at the sudden commotion, kids hurrying out of class, sneakers squeaking on the linolium floor and lockers slamming shut. It all brought him back to reality, where hot ghost boys that need his help _don't exsist._ What the hell had he been thinking? Of course this guy was fucking with him. He turned back to face him. "Okay, _ha-ha,_ you got me. I completely fell for the whole ghost thing. That was a funny prank or whatever. Just leave me alone, alright?" He turned away and hurried out of the bathroom, ignoring Lance's calls. He would give up eventually, but for now Keith had to get to the subway.

He had just made it through the school's front entance when he heard someone calling him from behind. 

"Keith! Buddy, wait up!"

Hunk Garret suddenly came up on his right, falling into step with him. "You rushed out of class pretty fast there," he said, slightly out of breath, but still cheery as ever. How he could be so upbeat after 7 gruling hours of school, Keith had no idea. "You forgot this," Hunk held up Keith's backpack. He took the bag from Hunk. "Thanks," he mumbled awkwardly.

Hunk smiled kindly. "Hey man, it's no biggie." Keith wasnt really sure why Hunk was so nice to him. They'd known each other forever, probably since 5th grade at P-124 when Hunk had moved in from Hawaii. Keith had stopped some bullies from shoving Hunk's lunch down the toilet on his first day of school. It hadn't been a big deal to him, but it had apparently made Hunk forever greatful. The kid had probably baked a different kind of cookie for Keith every single day until Keith told him it wasn't necessary.

"Hey, um, I was wondering. Pidge and I were gonna go catch a movie later, you're welcome to come if you want."

They were at the subway now. Keith's stop had just pulled up. He glanced apologetically at Hunk. "Um, sorry. I've kinda got a lot of homework tonight. Maybe...maybe another time, though." He stepped into the subway car, the doors shutting behind him, not looking back. He felt bad, flaking out on Hunk like that. He just...didn't really need friends right now, or well, _ever._ Friendship just seems like a burden, one extra person to worry about, one extra person to _lose._  It was stressful enough having to worry about his dorky older brother 24/7. Keith just didn't want to get too close to anybody, it was better that way, for him and for Hunk.

It was a while before the subway came to a slow stop around 34th street. Keith followed the crowd of people out of the subway car and out of the station. His phone buzzed in his pocket as he made his way above ground, the cold winter air nipping his cheeks and nose. He unlocked his phone and read the text making sure not to run into anybody as he headed over to the crosswalk at the end of the block. It was just Shiro, asking when he'd be home. 

The little walking guy blinked out of the corner of his eye, Keith made his way across the long New York street, eyes still looking down at his phone as he typed out a quick text to Shiro that he would be home soon.

"Dude! Watch out!" Somebody shouted,  startling Keith. His phone stumbled out of his hand, just as someone threw themselves forcefully into his body, shoving him at least three feet foward on to his hands and knees. "What the-!"

He whipped around just in time to see the 16-wheeler rumble over the spot he'd just been standing in, crushing his phone...and _Lance._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y 'all enjoyed this chapter, sorry it took so long ! Thanks for all the comments encouraging me ❤  
> Tell me what y'all thought of this chapter!!

**Author's Note:**

> Anywaysss, I hope y'all enjoyed this,,,uhh, comment if u want me to continue it!


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